Anti-theft container

ABSTRACT

An anti-theft container has a body and at least one connecting and recognizing assembly. The body has a case and a lid mounted to the case. The at least one connecting and recognizing assembly is mounted to the body and has a connected portion and a linking portion. The connected portion is disposed on the case and has a limiting recess, a recognition element, and a tear line. The limiting recess is formed in the connected portion and has a limiting surface disposed obliquely. The limiting surface makes an upper space of the limiting recess smaller than a lower space of the limiting recess. The recognition element is disposed on a bottom of the connected portion. The tear line is located on a circumference of the recognition element. The linking portion is disposed on the lid, received in the limiting recess, and disposed against the recognition element.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an anti-theft container, and more particularly to an anti-theft container that can be recognized from its appearance whether it has been opened before.

2. Description of Related Art

Ready-to-eat foods sold at a convenience store or a market such as salad, sushi, or all kinds of delicatessen with expiration date are usually contained in a conventional container. The conventional container has a case and a lid openably mounted to the case. However, some consumers open the conventional container to check freshness and smell of food contained in the conventional container. Some consumers even take part of the food away and close the lid back on the case, which makes it hard for other consumers to recognize whether the conventional container has been opened. When the other consumers are unaware and buy food contained in a conventional container that has been opened by others and get stale food or food partially taken away, consumer sovereignty may be infringed and the vendor's business integrity may be negatively affected.

To overcome the shortcomings of the conventional container, the present invention tends to provide an anti-theft container to mitigate or obviate the aforementioned problems.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The main objective of the present invention is to provide an anti-theft container that can be recognized from its appearance whether it has been opened before.

The anti-theft container in accordance with the present invention has a body and at least one connecting and recognizing assembly. The body has a case and a lid. The lid is mounted to the case. The at least one connecting and recognizing assembly is mounted to the body, is located between the case and the lid, and has a connected portion and a linking portion. The connected portion is disposed on the case and has a limiting recess, a recognition element, and a tear line. The limiting recess is formed in the connected portion, is disposed near a bottom of the connected portion, and has a limiting surface. The limiting surface is formed annularly on the limiting recess, is located at a portion of the limiting recess near a top of the connected portion, and is disposed obliquely. The limiting surface makes an upper space of the limiting recess near the top of the connected portion smaller than a lower space of the limiting recess near the bottom of the connected portion. The recognition element is disposed on the bottom of the connected portion. The tear line is disposed on the bottom of the connected portion, and is located on a circumference of the recognition element. The linking portion is disposed on the lid, is received in the limiting recess after contacting the limiting surface, and is disposed against the recognition element.

Other objectives, advantages and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an anti-theft container in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional side view of the anti-theft container in FIG. 1,

FIG. 3 is an enlarged perspective view of the anti-theft container in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is another enlarged cross-sectional side view of the anti-theft container in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4A is an enlarged cross-sectional side view of the anti-theft container in FIG. 4;

FIG. 5 is another enlarged perspective view of the anti-theft container in FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged operational cross-sectional side view of the anti-theft container in FIG. 1; and

FIG. 7 is an operational perspective view of the anti-theft container in FIG. 1;

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

With reference to FIG. 1, an anti-theft container in accordance with the present invention comprises a body 10 and at least one connecting and recognizing assembly 20. With reference to FIGS. 1, 2, and 7, the body 10 has a case 11 and a lid 12. With reference to FIGS. 2 and 7, the case 11 has a containing space 111 and a flange 112. The containing space 111 is formed in the case 11 and is capable of containing food. The flange 112 is formed annularly on a circumference of a top of the case 11. In the present invention, a lower abutting portion 113 is annularly formed on a circumference of a top of the flange 112. The lid 12 is openably mounted to the case 11. One side of the lid 12 is mounted to one side of the case 11, and thereby the two sides of the lid 12 and of the case 11 form a pivot. Then the lid 12 is pivotable about the pivot relative to the case 11, and the body 10 can be therefore opened or closed.

The lid 12 has an engaging portion 121 caved downwardly and annularly on a top surface of the lid 12, and annularly protrudes on a bottom surface of the lid 12. With reference to FIG. 2, the engaging portion 121 has an outer diameter corresponding to an inner diameter of the flange 112 of the case 11, which makes the engaging portion 121 tightly combined with the flange 112 when the lid 12 is covered on the case 11. In the present invention, with reference to FIG. 2, an upper abutting portion 122 is extended annularly on a circumference of the engaging portion 121, and the upper abutting portion 122 abuts against the lower abutting portion 113 of the case 11 when the engaging portion 121 is combined with the flange 112. The combination relationship of the engaging portion 121 and the flange 112 and the abutting relationship of the upper abutting portion 122 and the lower abutting portion 113 both enhance tightness between the case 11 and the lid 12 when the body 10 is closed, which secures freshness of food contained in the containing space 111 of the case 11.

With reference to FIGS. 1, 3, and 5, the at least one connecting and recognizing assembly 20 is mounted to the body 10, and is located between the case 11 and the lid 12. The at least one connecting and recognizing assembly 20 has a connected portion 21 and a linking portion 22. The connected portion 21 partially extends on the lower abutting portion 113 of the case 11. Furthermore, the connected portion 21 is disposed on a corner of the abutting portion 113, and is disposed away from the pivot. The connected portion 21 has a limiting recess 211, a gap, a recognition element 212, and a tear line 213. With reference to FIGS. 3 and 4, the limiting recess 211 is formed in the connected portion 21, is disposed near a bottom of the connected portion 21, and communicates with a space above the connected portion 21.

The gap is formed on the connected portion 21, and is located between the limiting recess 211 and the case 11. The limiting recess 211 has a limiting surface 214 formed annularly thereon, and the limiting surface 214 is located at a portion of the limiting recess 211 near a top of the connected portion 21. Moreover, the limiting surface 214 is disposed obliquely, such that an upper space of the limiting recess 211 near the top of the connected portion 21 is smaller than a lower space of the limiting recess 211 near the bottom of the connected portion 21. With reference to FIG. 5, the recognition element 212 is disposed on the bottom of the connected portion 21. The tear line 213 is disposed on the bottom of the connected portion 21, and is located on a circumference of the recognition element 212. In the present invention, the tear line 213 surrounds the recognition element 212. When the tear line 213 is torn completely, the recognition element 212 will be separated from the connected portion 21.

With reference to FIGS. 3 and 4, the linking portion 22 partially extends on the upper abutting portion 122 of the lid 12, is disposed correspondingly to the connected portion 21, and is therefore connectable with the connected portion 21. A contour of the linking portion 22 corresponds to a contour of a portion of the limiting recess 211 near the bottom of the connected portion 21. When the lid 12 is covered on the case 11, the linking portion 22 passes through the gap of the connected portion 21, and then contacts the limiting recess 211. Since the limiting surface makes the upper space of the limiting recess 211 near the top of the connected portion 21 smaller than the lower space of the limiting recess 211 near the bottom of the connected portion 21, the linking portion 22 deforms when contacting the limiting surface 214 until it moves to the lower space of the limiting recess 211 near the bottom of the connected portion 21. With further reference to FIG. 4, the linking portion 22 can be well received in the limiting recess 211, restored, and disposed against the recognition element 212 as soon as it moves to the lower space of the limiting recess 211.

Since the upper space of the limiting recess 211 is smaller than the lower space of the limiting recess 211, and the combination relationship of the engaging portion 121 and the flange 112 secures the tightness between the case 11 and the lid 12, people other than the legitimized user cannot disconnect the linking portion 22 from the connected portion 21 by pulling the lid 12 to remove the linking portion 22 from the limiting recess 211. With reference to FIG. 6, to disconnect the linking portion 22 from the connected portion 21, firstly, press the recognition element 212 of the connected portion 21 upwardly, and make the tear line 213 split from the connected portion 21. Push the linking portion 22 at the same time, and the linking portion 22 can be removed from the limiting recess 211. The linking portion 22 is disconnected from the connected portion 21 thereby, and then the lid 12 can be pushed upwardly and pivot relative to the case 11. As a result, the body 10 is opened as shown in FIG. 7.

In conclusion, only by pressing the recognition element 212 of the connected portion 21 upwardly and pushing the linking portion 22 to remove the linking portion 22 from the limiting recess 211 can one open the anti-theft container. Since the tear line 213 is located on the circumference of the recognition element 212, the tear line 213 splits from the connected portion 21 when the recognition element 212 is pressed. People other than the legitimized user cannot open the body 10 without damaging appearance of the body 10, so the present invention has an anti-theft effect. Moreover, users can open the anti-theft container utilizing merely one finger to press the recognition element 212, and the anti-theft container is still easy in operation though having the recognizing assembly 20 disposed thereon.

With the aforementioned features and technical characteristics, the anti-theft container in accordance with the present invention has the following advantages.

1. Since the linking portion 22 is received in the limiting recess 211, and the upper space of the limiting recess 211 is smaller than the lower space of the limiting recess 211, people other than the legitimized user can only press the recognition element 212 from its bottom upwardly and push the linking portion 22 to remove the linking portion 22 from the limiting recess 211. Because the recognition element 212 is under the linking portion 22 and the tear line 213 is located on the circumference of the recognition element 212, the tear line 213 splits from the connected portion 21 when the recognition element 212 is pressed. People other than the legitimized user cannot open the body 10 without damaging appearance of the body 10, so the present invention has anti-theft effect.

2. Although the present invention has the recognizing assembly 20 disposed thereon to attain the anti-theft effect, users can open the anti-theft container utilizing merely one finger to press the recognition element 212. The anti-theft container is still easy in operation though having the recognizing assembly 20 disposed thereon.

3. Because the combining relationship of the engaging portion 121 and the flange 112 secures the tightness between the case 11 and the lid 12, it is harder for people other than the legitimized user to disconnect the linking portion 22 from the connected portion 21 by pulling the lid 12 toward an opposite direction to the limiting recess 211. As a result, the engaging portion 121 and the flange 112 further enhance the anti-theft effect of the present invention.

Even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the present invention have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of the structure and features of the invention, the disclosure is illustrative only. Changes may be made in the details, especially in matters of shape, size, and arrangement of parts within the principles of the invention to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed. 

What is claimed is:
 1. An anti-theft container comprising: a body having a case; and a lid mounted to the case; and at least one connecting and recognizing assembly mounted to the body, located between the case and the lid, and having a connected portion disposed on the case, and having a limiting recess formed in the connected portion, being near a bottom of the connected portion, and having a limiting surface formed annularly thereon, located at a portion of the limiting recess near a top of the connected portion, disposed obliquely such that an upper space of the limiting recess near the top of the connected portion is smaller than a lower space of the limiting recess near the bottom of the connected portion; a recognition element disposed on the bottom of the connected portion; and a tear line disposed on the bottom of the connected portion, and located on a circumference of the recognition element; and a linking portion disposed on the lid, received in the limiting recess after contacting the limiting surface, and disposed against the recognition element.
 2. The anti-theft container as claimed in claim 1, wherein the case has a flange formed annularly on a circumference of a top of the case and has an inner diameter; and the lid has an engaging portion caved downwardly and annularly on a top surface of the lid and annularly protruding on a bottom surface of the lid, and the lid has an outer diameter corresponding to the inner diameter of the flange such that the engaging portion and the flange are tightly combined.
 3. The anti-theft container as claimed in claim 2, wherein a lower abutting portion is annularly formed on a circumference of a top of the flange; and an upper abutting portion is extended annularly on a circumference of the engaging portion, and the upper abutting portion abuts against the lower abutting portion when the engaging portion is tightly combined with the flange.
 4. The anti-theft container as claimed in claim 3, wherein the connected portion partially extends on the lower abutting portion of the case; and the linking portion partially extends on the upper abutting portion of the lid.
 5. The anti-theft container as claimed in claim 2, wherein the tear line surrounds the recognition element.
 6. The anti-theft container as claimed in claim 3, wherein the tear line surrounds the recognition element.
 7. The anti-theft container as claimed in claim 4, wherein the tear line surrounds the recognition element.
 8. The anti-theft container as claimed in claim 5, wherein the tear line surrounds the recognition element. 